from a 10 speed to a 5 speed, should I do it?

[Thxcuz]

I was thinking about replacing the double chain ring of a 70's road bike with a tripple but then it occured to me that I rarley switch my front sprockets so why not dump the front derailer and make it a 5 speed?
She did it
http://lovelybike.blogspot.com/2010/05/ ... rsion.html

Anyone else do it? any advice? shoud I do it?

 

[CyborgAbeLincoln]

Go for it!

I have a 10-speed 70's Schwinn Suburban that's my beater/trailer towing bike. I've had it for a couple years now and I don't think I've used the large chainring more than a handful of times, so I'm planning on ditching the front derailleur, just never gotten around to it. I'd probably convert it to a single-speed, since I spend about 90% of the time in one gear on it anyway, but I do need the lower gears for getting the trailer up hills.

 

[Dr. Tankenstein]

I did it to my old Diamondback MTB, went from a 3 x 6 to a 1 x 6, life is much simpler now.

From:

To:

Bottom line, will it make you ride it more? Then do it! :mrgreen:

Cheers,
Dr. T

 

[deorman]

Another option is to change cluster size in the front. If you spend most of your time on the small ring, get a pair whose large ring is just a little bit larger than your current small ring. :|

 

[franconuevo]

I did it to my old Diamondback MTB, went from a 3 x 6 to a 1 x 6, life is much simpler now.

From:

To:

Bottom line, will it make you ride it more? Then do it! :mrgreen:

Cheers,
Dr. T

Hey Dr. T. Nice work by you , as usual

Now...does the chain stay on the front sprocket OK with the back derailleur moving the alignment side to side

I'm working on an older Mtn bike today, and the front derailleur is just not cooperating....not going to remove rings, but just thought I'd set the front derailleur in place by use of the hi lo screws over the middle ring....you know, get rid of the cable and shifter.

What is holding your chain in alignment..?..don't see a bash guard...
thanks
Franco.....

 

[Dr. Tankenstein]

I removed the front derailleur all together. No problems with shifting of the chain staying on the front chainring.
Good luck with your build and thanks for bringing back that pic! [emoji38][emoji38]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Gizmo]

Been rolling without a front derailleur so long I've had to replace my worn 44 tooth chainring twice. On the rare occasion I've wanted to use the "big" ring I just stop and manually shift it. Biggest problem is very greasy fingers

 

[Wildcat]

I was trying to reduce weight on my 78 Raleigh Record Ace. I added alloy wheels and removed the small chain wheel and front derailleur to get to 27 lbs. 6 speed instead of the original 10. It was my fastest bike yet.

 

[Bicycle808]

You won't likely have issues with dropped chains with 5 thru 7 speed rear clusters. 1x8, 1x9 (and up) set-ups tend to drop chains unless you have some sort of chain-retention system, or one of the cool new narrow/wide chainrings with variable thickness teeth.

My 2 cents: don't bother if you're not going to remove the front shifter & cable, the front derailer, and all the front rings that you don't intend to use. Otherwise, the weight savings are negligible, and your bike will just make you look like you don't know how to set up a front derailer. Another cool option is to run the ring on the inner position, and then grind the teeth off the big ring and keep it on the outer position as a guard ring. But leaving 2 or 3 front sprockets on the crank without having a functional front derailer? That's just kinda half-A'd, imho.

 

[us56456712]

I used an off-set narrow wide 28 tooth chain wheel to replace my triple on a 9 speed freehub MTB. Off-set so the chain would clear the chain stays. 28 tooth is the smallest I could find. I originally had a 30 tooth x 9 speed and I kept throwing chains on heavy duty single track, but not on the road. I hate the new triples, they always screw up on tough single track riding, unless it is a bike from the 80-90s and then the triples for my many rigid frames shift well. Why is that? I have another MTB that I put a regular 24 tooth chain wheel on and left the front derailleur on to help keep the chain from being thrown and it worked for the limited road and light trail riding that I did. I have only ridden this bike for a week so it might come off but i think it will be OK. In the past I have used the small chain wheel and a middle gear on the rear. I ditched both derailleurs and made a single speed, but kept the rear freewheel, I just shortened the chain. No problems here either. I have done this with many bikes. I have also converted many old 10 speed road bikes to 5 speeds with out any issues. Also i have converted many 3 speeds to single speeds without a problem.

24 tooth single sprocket with the front derailleur to help keep the chain on. Don't know if this is necessary?

Narrow wide single chainring bike, no front derailleur. It looks like 2 chainrings but the large one is a bash guard.

 

[horsefarmer]

Good to see you back us56456712 !
I'm thinking if you use a smaller front sprocket or eliminate double or triple front sprockets I would shorten the chain some like you said. I think some derailleur setups keep the chain are too "slack" when on small sprockets front and back.

 

[Bicycle808]

Yeah, if the derailer system is keeping the chain too slack, then you have the chain too long (as you mentioned) and you'll want to adjust your b-screw to get the angle correct.

 

[horsefarmer]

Yeah, if the derailer system is keeping the chain too slack, then you have the chain too long (as you mentioned) and you'll want to adjust your b-screw to get the angle correct.

Wow, I did not know anything about the derailleur b-screw! Googled it and turns out Sheldon Brown has all the info including determining chain length.
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/derailer-adjustment.html

 

[us56456712]

Yeah, if the derailer system is keeping the chain too slack, then you have the chain too long (as you mentioned) and you'll want to adjust your b-screw to get the angle correct.

The b screw adjustment didn't work on my new bike. I ditched my new Trek 29er as no one could get it to shift. The bike shop I bought it from even up graded the rear derailleur for free and is still wouldn't shift. I had the best mechanics in town trying to fix it at two shops. Some others in our bike club have had the same problem with some new bikes of different brands than the Trek. Both the front and rear shifting didn't work on my Trek. I had massive chain wrap on the front right out of the box and they put on 2 new chains and it still wrapped. I emailed Trek twice and never got a reply. Back in the 80s I had a stem break on a Trek road bike after years of use and I let them know and they replaced it for free. Another local rider had his stem break too. I gave my new Trek 29er away after a year and a half just to get rid of it before I had a bad accident with it. This bike was dangerous. I told the person I gave it to about the problem. Trek is not the company it once was. My home built and upgraded 2002 Specialized works like a charm. I will never buy a new mountain bike, they cost a lot and some of them don't work well enough for me. Others seem more tolerant of shifting problems than I am. I am thinking about rebuilding my 1992 Giant ATX 760 with a few upgraded parts. It is double butted chromo with a butted fork. This bike weighs 27 pounds, as light as some full suspension carbon mountain bikes and it only cost me $20. I am a small person so this light frame will be OK for me. It's in very good shape, never ridden much, no scratches or dings. It is simple and works and I like rigid. I'm thinking better modern tires, different rims, perhaps a carbon seat and post and new gearing. I think this could be a nice cross country bike for $300 - $400. I already have the rims and a freewheel with more teeth, so I would need about $175 for tubeless tires and $75 for a new crank. I'll need a new chain and cables as well as other stuff I already have floating around in my shop. No top of the line stuff but better than the original.

 

[horsefarmer]

I have been running a single Felt Jetson sprocket with my original Schwinn OPC on my Heavy Duti Rocket build.

Its an 8 speed Shimano Aliivio derailleur and it is working great. I was really worried I would be dropping chain. I reused the Rocket chain and spliced in some chain from a junk kids Roadmaster China 6 speed 24"

bike. I used the method I found on Sheldon's site and fitted the chain over the biggest rear sprocket and the front sprocket and added 2 extra links - works great.

 

[1oldbikelover]

You won't likely have issues with dropped chains with 5 thru 7 speed rear clusters. 1x8, 1x9 (and up) set-ups tend to drop chains unless you have some sort of chain-retention system, or one of the cool new narrow/wide chainrings with variable thickness teeth.

My 2 cents: don't bother if you're not going to remove the front shifter & cable, the front derailer, and all the front rings that you don't intend to use. Otherwise, the weight savings are negligible, and your bike will just make you look like you don't know how to set up a front derailer. Another cool option is to run the ring on the inner position, and then grind the teeth off the big ring and keep it on the outer position as a guard ring. But leaving 2 or 3 front sprockets on the crank without having a functional front derailer? That's just kinda half-A'd, imho.

Agreed, Bicycle808.....why waste the time to do all if that work to save grams of weight unless you're a "weight weenie" and it will make you feel like you're going faster 'cause your bike weighs a pound less. You a racer, Thxcuz?

 

[user 135]

I run 1x setups on 2 bikes not because of weight. I ride these 2 bikes in Boise that is mostly flat, so no extra gears needed. I run a 1x9 on a bike that has seen some trail use without any dropped chains.

 

[wheelbender6]

Riding fixies and single speeds for a few years convinced me I can ride the trails and streets just fine with 5 or 6 gears.

 

[Vlad the Inhaler]

If you do a lot of trail riding, you could just remove the front shifter, cable and derailleur mechanism & leave the big ring on. Gives traction for clawing over logs too big to bunnyhop.